Article holder

ABSTRACT

One embodiment of an article holder includes a track member that may have an elongated slot. The article holder may also have a base member that may be slidably carried along the elongated slot. Further, the base member may be capable of spinning at an axis thereof. The article holder may also have a plurality of arms that may extend outwardly from the base member. Each arm may be capable of holding one or more articles.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/192,269 filed on Sep. 17, 2008, the disclosureof which is incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure generally relates to article holders, and moreparticularly to an article holder for kitchen shelves.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Articles, such as coffee mugs and teacups, are stored in kitchen shelveseither by hanging the articles on individual hooks or by stackingarticles on top of one another. Sometimes, such articles are also placedin an unorganized manner on kitchen countertops.

A series of hooks may be individually installed across a bottom surfaceof a cabinet shelf. Each hook may held in a fixed position on the bottomsurface of the shelf by one or more screw fasteners. Hooks and articlessuspended therefrom may block a person's access to other hooks andarticles suspended deeper within the cabinet. In addition, installationof every hook onto the kitchen shelf may be tedious and time consuming.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

One embodiment of an article holder includes a track member that mayhave an elongated slot. The article holder may also have a base memberthat may be slidably carried along the elongated slot. Further, the basemember may be capable of spinning at an axis thereof. The article holdermay also have a plurality of arms that may extend outwardly from thebase member. Each arm may be capable of holding one or more articles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The advantages and features of the present disclosure will become betterunderstood with reference to the following detailed description andclaims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein likeelements are identified with like symbols, and in which: holder; and

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of an article

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the article holder of FIG. 1 in utilitystate.

Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the descriptionof the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

For a thorough understanding of the present disclosure, reference is tobe made to the following detailed description, including the appendedclaims, in connection with the above-described drawings. Although thepresent disclosure is described in connection with exemplaryembodiments, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to thespecific forms set forth herein. It is understood that various omissionsand substitutions of equivalents are contemplated as circumstances maysuggest or render expedient, but these are intended to cover theapplication or implementation without departing from the spirit or scopeof the claims of the present disclosure. Also, it is to be understoodthat the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose ofdescription and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of“including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof herein ismeant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereofas well as additional items.

The term “first,” “second,” and the like, herein do not denote anyorder, elevation or importance, but rather are used to distinguishplacement of one element over another. Further, the terms, “a” and “an”herein do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote thepresence of at least one of the referenced item. Unless limitedotherwise, the terms “attached,” “connected,” “coupled,” and variationsthereof herein are used broadly and encompass direct and indirectattachments, connections, and couplings.

The present disclosure provides an article holder that may holdarticles, such as handled teacups and handled coffee mugs. The articleholder may be attached to an underside of a shelf of a kitchen forholding the articles or other suitable mounting surfaces.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, one embodiment of an article holder 100 mayinclude a track member 102, which in one form may be a longitudinalplanar member. However, the track member 102 may be configured to assumeany other shape. The track member 102 may have a first end portion 110,a second end portion 112 and an elongated slot 108 extending between thefirst and second end portions 110, 112. The first and second endportions 110, 112 may have a plurality of through holes 114 forreceiving a plurality of screw members 116 or other fasteners, which maysecure the track member 102 to a shelf, such as a kitchen shelf 200.However, the track member 102 may be secured to the kitchen shelf 200 byother fastening methods.

The article holder 100 may further include a base member 104, which mayhave a periphery and may be slidably carried by or slidably coupled tothe elongated slot 108 of the track member 102. The base member 104 mayrequire a slidable coupling mechanism for enabling a slidable couplingwith the elongated slot 108. This slidable coupling mechanism mayinclude a hook like structure (not shown) capable of being received bythe elongated slot 108. Alternatively, the slidable coupling mechanismmay include any other configuration known in the art.

The base member 104 may be further capable of spinning at an axisthereof. Specifically, the base member 104 may be capable of spinningaround a central axis “X” extending perpendicularly from the base member104. The base member 104 may require a spinning mechanism to spin aroundthe central axis “X”. The spinning mechanism may include mating surfacesof a rotor and a stator to enable spinning of the base member 104.Alternatively, the spinning mechanism may include any otherconfiguration known in the art. The base member 104 in one form may havea circular shape. Of course, the base member 104 may instead have anoncircular shape.

The article holder 100 may further include a plurality of arms 106, suchas six arms, that may extend outwardly from the base member 104.Specifically, the arms 106 may extend outwardly from a periphery of thebase member 104 in an evenly spaced apart manner from one another.Further, each arm 106 may be capable of holding at least one article202, which may include, but not be limited to, teacups and coffee mugs,as shown in FIG. 2. Each arm 106 in one form may be curved upwardly at afree end portion 118 thereof for holding the article 202. Alternatively,each arm 106 may assume any other shape. Further, the article holder 100may have more or less than six arms.

In use, the first end portion 110 of the track member 102 may be carriedby a front portion of the shelf adjacent to a front edge of the same.The second end portion 112 may be carried by a middle or rear portion ofthe shelf, which may be spaced apart from the front edge. The basemember 104 may be slid within the elongated slot 108 toward the frontedge by a distance that may, for example, suspend a portion of the arms106 toward or beyond the front edge of the shelf. This portion of armsmay receive articles, such as cups. The base member 104 may then be spunto suspend another portion of the arms toward or beyond the front edgeof the shelf, such that these arms may receive other articles.Thereafter, the base member 104 may be slid toward the second endportion 114 to, for example, store the articles within the cabinet andallow a door of the cabinet to close.

The article holder 100 may be made of a light weight material coated inrubber. Specifically, the track member 102, the base member 104, and thearms 106 may be made of stainless steel coated in rubber to, forexample, reduce corrosion and limit sliding of the base member on thetrack member. However, the track member 102, the base member 104, andthe arms 106 may instead be made of other metals, plastic, wood or othersuitable materials. Further, the article holder 100 may have a singletiered configuration. Of course, the article holder may have two basemembers, such as the base member 104, and have a double tieredconfiguration that provides independent spinning of both of the basemembers.

The present disclosure provides an article holder, such as the articleholder 100, which offers the following advantages. The article holdermay hold articles, such as handled cups and handled mugs. The articleholder has a simple structural configuration and is cost-effective.Further, a base member, such as the base member 104 of the articleholder 100, may be slid to and fro on a track member, such as the trackmember 102 of the article holder 100, and may spin along an axis, suchas the central axis “X”. Such sliding and spinning of the base memberenable a user to easily access articles, such as the at least onearticle 202, hung on a plurality of arms, such as the plurality of arms106. In addition, the article holder has a compact structure, whichenables the article holder to be conveniently arranged and installed atany suitable location in a kitchen shelf while occupying less space.

The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the presentdisclosure have been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit thepresent disclosure to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to bestexplain the principles of the present disclosure and its practicalapplication, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilizethe present disclosure and various embodiments with variousmodifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It isunderstood that various omission and substitutions of equivalents arecontemplated as circumstance may suggest or render expedient, but suchare intended to cover the application or implementation withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the claims of the presentdisclosure.

1. An article holder comprising: a track member having an elongatedslot; a base member slidably coupled to the elongated slot of the trackmember, the base member capable of spinning at an axis thereof; and aplurality of arms extending outwardly from the base member, each arm ofthe plurality of arms being capable of holding at least one article. 2.The article holder of claim 1, wherein the track member furthercomprises a plurality of through holes configured thereon for securingthe track member to a shelf via a plurality of screw members.
 3. Thearticle holder of claim 1, wherein each arm of the plurality of arms iscurved upwardly at a free end portion thereof for holding the at leastone article.
 4. The article holder of claim 1, wherein the plurality ofarms is evenly spaced apart.
 5. The article holder of claim 1, whereinthe track member is made of stainless steel.
 6. The article holder ofclaim 5, wherein the track member is coated in rubber.
 7. The articleholder of claim 1, wherein the base member is made of stainless steel.8. The article holder of claim 7, wherein the base member is coated inrubber.
 9. The article holder of claim 1, wherein the plurality of armsis made of stainless steel.
 10. The article holder of claim 9, whereinthe plurality of arms is coated in rubber.